Gators can't be their own worst enemy

To paraphrase the not late and somewhat great Arizona Cardinals coach Denny Green, the Florida Gators are what we thought they were.

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Six months ago, the Florida men's basketball team was regarded as the favorite to repeat as NCAA champion, and now, 36 games and 31 wins later, it's exactly that again.

The Gators received the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament brackets announced Sunday night and, based on the draw they were given, there's no reason to believe they shouldn't make the Final Four.

Or is there?

The Gators' toughest foe along the way might be their own brains. Swiping a title from out of nowhere, as they did last season, often is easier than holding on to a trophy already in hand, and Florida's veteran roster already has shown that it isn't immune to getting in its own way.

That's what happened during a woeful 10-day stretch near the end of the Southeastern Conference season, isn't it? Vanderbilt, LSU and Tennessee are respectable teams, but the Gators certainly are stronger.

Losing those three games in the fashion they did indicated a temporary lack of something more intangible; it's why coach Billy Donovan questioned his players' preparation and focus following the LSU loss, saying, "They looked like a team that just won a championship, and competing maybe wasn't the most important thing on their mind here. ... There's got to be a level, when you're competing, a level of nervousness, a level of on-edge, a level of concern. And I think what happens is that level of edge and concern starts to disappear the more you win."

It was a damning quote, an indictment of his team's commitment and focus. It also was said only 16 days ago. Teams that have such statements made about them so late in the season typically aren't seen as out-and-out favorites just a few weeks later, yet that's what the Gators have managed to achieve.

That they did so reflects incredibly well on Donovan. In a news conference after winning the SEC Tournament title, junior forward Joakim Noah offered a tiny clue into what Donovan has preached to his players since their skid.

Asked about the "swagger" of him and his teammates, Noah conceded that Florida has plenty. But then he said this: "I think that playing a little bit scared, and being scared to lose, can be a good thing."

He's right. One performance like they had in Knoxville or Baton Rouge, and the Gators will be going home.

A cursory look at the bracket shows Florida's toughest game might come in the second round, when it could face an Arizona team that many believed was one of the best in the preseason and is coached by a legend, Lute Olson.

Beyond that, the Gators might see Oregon or Wisconsin or UNLV on its road, or maybe a Cinderella such as Winthrop.

It shouldn't matter. The Gators are the most talented team in the country, and they showed it when they ripped Ohio State just before Christmas, when they blasted to a regular-season conference championship and when they won three games by an average of about 20 points on their way to the SEC Tournament title.

In reality, the opponents are almost irrelevant. There are six games left to win for the Gators, and the hardest part might be making sure they don't beat themselves.